CHC News
February 2010
Conservancy Elects Four New Board Members
February 2010
Conservancy Assumes Responsibility for Master Plan for Greenway Trails.
February 2010
The Conservancy Sponsored the Arbor Day.
Cedar Creek Wetlands Initiative
Location: South of Roscoe Community, between Roscoe Road (SR 70) and Sewell Mill Road. Cedar Creek is in Northern Coweta County, Georgia within the Chattahoochee Hill Country. The Creek runs along side Dunaway Gardens, a privately owned historic garden that was recently restored and is now open to the public.
Owner: There are eight parcels that contain Cedar Creek. Along Roscoe Road the first parcel is owned by the Estate of Mrs. Marjorie Hatchett, the second and third parcels are owned by Dunaway Gardens. The fourth parcel, behind Dunaway, is owned by Mrs. Margie Bass. The fifth parcel, along Garden Creek Lane, is owned by Arthur Aumen. The sixth and seventh parcles, along Sewell Mill Road and bordering Dunaway Gardens are owned by Temple-Inland, and the eigth parcle, along Sewell Mill is owned by James Jordan.
The Chattahoochee Hill Country’s goal for this project is to protect 6,100 feet of Cedar Creek, in order to maintain the physical and biological health of the creek, and to preserve the land as permanent greenspace as part of our four-county greenspace connectivity plan. We will be working in cooperation with Dunaway Gardens and their efforts to restore a portion of the stream. Dunaway is currently restoring the stream in order to create a healthier wetland habitat. We would like to preserve the land through either conservation easements, deed restrictions on fee simple ownership, or ownership by the county for greenspace and passive recreation.
Conservation Value: The protection of this section of Cedar Creek is critical for both human and ecological reasons. Cedar Creek is alongside Dunaway Gardens which is a historic garden. The garden has been beautifully restored and the adjoining creek and wetland area are currently being restored.
Cedar Creek contains approximately 3,272,794 sq ft of wetland and 5,362,967 sq ft of floodplain. Protection of this stream bank area is critical to the health of the creek and will act as an important wildlife habitat.
The Temple-Inland Company that currently owns a large portion of Cedar Creek is a development company in the business of selling land for the highest and best use. This land adjoins Dunaway Gardens and is a major vista from the Gardens.
Chattahoochee Hill Country is working to protect this land for its natural habitat and watershed functions. Wetlands perform as significant water filtering systems and the Cedar Creek wetlands is one of the largest wetland systems in our region. If owned by the county and held as greenspace the land could be an area for passive recreation and trails, which could tie into the proposed four-county Path system. This greenway will become part of the four-county greenspace connectivity plan that is protecting land in Fulton, Coweta, Carrol and Douglas counties. This area is an anchoring greenspace in that connectivity. This area is representative of what the Chattahoochee Hill Country is trying to protect with their conservation measures and would be an ideal area for preservation of greenspace for Coweta County.
Physical Characteristics: Cedar Creek is a typical Piedmont stream. The gentle topography along most of this area of Cedar Creek causes it to have wide floodplain and large wetland areas.
Deciduous trees are the dominant vegetation type along the banks of Cedar Creek, consisting mostly of flood tolerant hardwoods including sweet gum, red maple, and oaks. The large open wetland area that is being restored along the creek at Dunaway Gardens is going to be planted with appropriate native shrub and tree species. Trees such as Swamp Oak, Willow Oak, Shumard Oak, Swamp Blackgum, Sugarberry, Bitternut Hickory, Smooth Alder and Persimmon, and shrubs such as Buttonbush, Silky Dogwood, Deciduous Holly, Winterberry, Swamp-haw, Blueberry and American Elderberry.
The stream and wetlands provides habitat and breeding ground for many of the animals in the Piedmont region. The vegetation filters sediment and pollution from storm runoff, yielding cleaner water and fertile soil. Atlanta relies on the Chattachoochee River and its streams, such as Cedar Creek. Without healthy streams, flooding and pollution from storm water runoff will only get worse.